Divine Services

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Divine Services

Divine service is an encounter between God and man. Here believers on every continent hear the good news of the grace and return of Jesus. Divine services are offered in the New Apostolic Church on Sundays and in many congregations also on Wednesdays or Thursdays. For New Apostolic Christians, they are an integral part of Christian life.

  • Fellowship with God
  • Prayer, word and sacrament
  • Musical participation
  • Church services via internet and radio
  • Celebrate church services
  • Liturgy

Divine services in the New Apostolic Church are open to everyone. Everyone is welcome and invited to join the church services.

Fellowship with God

Worship is God's work on people, because the community gathers to hear God's word and to be blessed by God. Worship is also a work of man for God, because in worship man offers worship, praise and thanksgiving to God in awe and humility. So worship means having an encounter with God. In the adoring service of the believers and in the more perceptible presence of the Triune God, the church experiences that God serves it in love.
Service attendees gather in devotion to hear God's word. In the worship service they are awarded the peace of Jesus Christ, they can receive grace and redemption, feel divine love and receive blessings. The worship community gives strength of faith, comfort, confidence and hope.

Prayer, Word and Sacrament

The service begins with the invocation of God and a prayer. The following sermon at the altar is based on a Bible word and takes place in free speech, without a manuscript - it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. Jesus puts it this way in the Bible: "For it is not you who speak, but it is your father's spirit who speaks through you." The sermon focuses on the gospel of Jesus Christ, which tells of Jesus' life and sacrifice, his resurrection and ascension and his return. God's deeds at all times are also sermon content. The sermon offers the believer orientation for a life according to God's will. Since God's word - which is perfect - is preached by imperfect, sinful people, errors by the speaker and errors of understanding by the hearer are not excluded in the sermon. This does not prevent God from putting strength into the sermon.

With the celebration of Holy Communion, the congregation experiences the central event in the service. It is generally celebrated in every service led by an apostle or a priestly minister. Exceptions are word services without the celebration of Holy Communion, which are celebrated on certain occasions such as a wedding. The forgiveness of sins is proclaimed before the celebration of the Lord's Supper. It is preceded by the common prayer of "Our Father". The service ends with prayer and a blessing. Together with the Trinitarian opening formula at the beginning of the service, this blessing - with the words from 2 Corinthians 13:13 - forms the framework that encloses the worship event.

 

Musical Participation

Wherever possible, the service will be musically designed. Singing by the congregation, choir and instrumental music expresses and communicates praise, thanks, feelings of love, courage, strength, confidence and joy. Music before the service gets the congregation in the mood for the sermon, music in the service underlines the preached word.

Church services via internet and radio

The New Apostolic Church offers its members the opportunity to attend divine services via internet and radio. The offer is aimed in particular at bedridden believers who cannot leave the house. To do this, they tune into NACTV that broadcast the services via internet and radio as well as via a free to air channel. 

Liturgy

Christian worship has been celebrated in various forms over the centuries. Originally the liturgy was in the foreground, later the preaching service developed through the Reformation within Protestantism. The current course of the New Apostolic divine service follows the tradition of Reformed divine services. The preaching of the word as well as the dispensing of the sacrament and blessings are essential elements of the services. The word of God becomes audible in the sermon that wants to make known the will of God. This requires sanctification from the minister and careful preparation for the sermon. The divine word, from which all talk proceeds from God and from God, is Jesus Christ, the eternal, creative word. The sacraments are also based in him: Holy Baptism with water, Holy Sealing and Holy Communion.

Man experiences God's all-embracing saving action in them. The prayers are a dialogue with God and an answer to God's turning to him. Through them, people show that they want to have fellowship with them and receive direction from them. Prayers within the worship community also have a confessional character. In addition to the communion of words and the  communion of the sacraments, divine service is also a confessional community. Spiritual songs that are sung in the service are an expression of communion for the assembled community. Through the lyrics of the song, the church not only connects with each other, but also with God. The spiritual chants also give the divine service the solemn framework with which every attendee of the divine service should have easier access to the work of God.


The Trinitarian blessing at the end of the service is intended to accompany the service participants in their everyday lives. The believer can trust in the grace of God, he can feel secure in the love of God and be certain of the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He is assured of God's keeping presence in his life so that he can live his life in the spirit of the gospel.